Sportbike stunt show set for SaturdayHerald Editor

Published 7:00 pm, Thursday, October 29, 2009

With club names like No Crash No Glory and stunts with names like Iron Cross, it may sound like sportbike performers have a death wish.

That’s not necessarily true, although stunts like balancing on the gas tank of a motorcycle can certainly be dangerous.

"It’s very dangerous," said sportbike enthusiast Johnathan Bryant. "There are a lot of (things) that can happen."

However, most of the stunts that Bryant and other stunt riders will be performing Saturday at what he called Plainview’s first major sportbike stunt show will be done at low speeds, which makes them somewhat safe.

"We have the idle turned up (on the motorcycles)," Bryant, who works as the aquatics director at the YMCA, said. "Most of what we do will be at 3-4 mph."

Cages protect the motorcycles, and helmets protect the riders.

Still, he added, "You don’t learn how to do these stunts without failure. There are going to be things that inevitably happen."

One such thing recently happened to a rider from Odessa. Bryant said the man was performing a stunt known as the iron cross in which the rider stands on top of the gas tank.

"He fell off and broke his collarbone," he said.

Organizers hope nothing like that happens when a stunt show is held from noon-5 p.m. Saturday inside Ollie Liner Center. The event, sponsored in part by Plainview’s Christian Motorcycle Association, will be held in conjunction with a variety of motorcycle games as a benefit for Dare to Believe Outreach Ministries. Admission is $5 for adults, while kids 12 and under are free. Door prizes will be given away and concessions will be available.

Motorcyclists, who can have their bikes blessed, may enter the bike games for $10. Events, for both men and women, include a wienie bite in which a hot dog wiener, dipped in mustard, is suspended from a wire. While one person drives a motorcycle, another stands on the back of the bike and tries to eat as much of the wiener when they pass under it.

"They do some very interesting games on a motorcycle," Bryant said, adding that the bike rally is the main focus of the fundraiser.

Between 100-150 motorcycles are expected Saturday at the Ollie Liner Center, and while Plainview has hosted a couple of events like this before, none were of this magnitude. An outdoor event last summer attracted some 50 bikes.

This time, Bryant said, "Three different teams are being represented."

Street Certified Riders and RU Dwn Crew, both clubs with members from Plainview and founded by Roland Ruiz and Donald Alcala, respectively, will be joined by No Crash No Glory of Odessa.

Bryant said riding sportbikes gets in your blood.

"It’s my life," the 24-year-old Plainview High School graduate said. "Some guys like to golf, some guys like to work on cars, but this is my calling. I started riding sportbikes when I was 18, and I loved it. It’s that feeling of just being free."

He thinks spectators will enjoy this weekend’s event.

"It’s going to be pretty neat," Bryant said. "The kids will absolutely love it. Adults will, too, but kids really get into it. I encourage everybody to come see what it’s all about and have fun."